FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Management and labor at General Motors Co.'s Opel/Vauxhall unit are close to reaching a deal that would cut wage costs at the troubled European carmaker, both sides said.

"In the coming days, management and labor leaders will work toward a final agreement," they said in a joint statement following a meeting on Wednesday of the unit's top European worker representatives at Opel's headquarters in Ruesselsheim, Germany.

Opel is hoping to extract 265 million euros ($329 million) in annual wage concessions from its 50,000 workers, who are also being asked to accept thousands of job cuts at the same time to return Opel to breakeven by next year.

Opel is also hoping to receive loan guarantees of more than 1 billion euros from the German government that could help fund its operations during restructuring.